good wednesday morning. welcome to news channel 8 today. i'm gene ramirez. >> and i'm gayle guyardo. a demolition team is jumping into action today. this is all linked to an 8 on your side investigation that revealed a sinkhole danger under a tampa apartment complex. today the crews will accompany the city attorney and engineers to inspect the french quarter apartments on armenia avenue. and they must also decide if and how to move residents if

danger and the red cross is helping a temple terrace family forced out of their home overnight by fire. the flames sparked in the rear of the home. it took 33 minutes to put out the fire. all people did get out safely. the cause of the fire is under investigation. and the people of alabama are waking up to massive destruction this morning. n the wake of one monster tornado. -- morning in this wake of one monster tornado. take a look at the the twister that hit pickens county. luckily only minor injuries are reported. and that's that system is headed our way -- and that system is headed our way but leigh, you say it's going to weaken before it gets here. it certainly will. thank goodness. for areas of alabama, they are still under the threat of tornadoes and even the places that saw the strong tornado, it's still raining. this system is a slow-mover as it gets closer the to us. we are in the warm sector of the storm system.

and 70 in sarasota. so much warmer than this time yesterday. in lakeland, 11 degrees warmer. nine degrees warmer in brooksville. and five degrees warmer in bradenton. we don't have the thick fog this morning but we may see lowering of clouds around 7:00 this morning. what i want you to notice is, sea fog hanging just off the coast may sit around all day long. and it's going to be warm and humid with the high of 830. in weather and traffic on the 8s at 4:38, i take you through eight days and what temperatures you can expect. we have a good drive as far as congestion is concerned, we don't have that but we have issues and they are in the sarasota and bradenton area. and let's start off in the sun coast area for our friends that live down there. what you need to know before you head out the door, 301 both directions is blocked at 63rd avenue east and that's due to an unfortunate fatal crash this morning. 15th street is a good alternate

in sarasota, you've got the left lane take anway both northbound and southbound on i- 75 to construction for that diverging diamond intersection. and university is blocked both directions underneath the interstate. now back to gene and gayle. >> thank you so much. 8 on your side is revealing information that might make parents uncomfortable this morning. we dug up a state audit that found glaring errors involving the very people who work with our children. the report shows dozen thes of educators in sarasota county did not undergo background checks as required by law. now the state requires employees to undergo three checks every five year. and after an initial background check when they were hired. but the attorney general checked and found out the district never resubmitted the fingerprints of 45 out of 80 employees it looked at. parents 8 on your side spoke with are concerned.

should be done by law. yeah, especially with the things that are going on in the world today, it's a little crazy. >> there's been a lot of that lately with inappropriate behavior between teachers and children and it's becoming an open deckic. >> district officials told the state the ping -- an epidemic. >> district officials told the state that they didn't have the staff to do it. the state wants the district to identify how many employees haven't gone through the required screenings. now to a developing story, michael ramos, the tampa man found with explosives in his home will face a federal judge this morning. ken o'neal, the man who found the pipe bomb, assault weapons is speaking out this morning only to news channel 8. they were partners in a business that sold body armor. >> i had to make a really tough choice here. and there's people that hate me for it and there's people that

>> agents found eight homemade pipe bomb, an ak-47, a hand gun, tear gas and smoke grenades in ramos' home. after the arrest, the atf claims michael ramos voiced anti-government sentiments. right now, alarm is growing as the zika virus continues to spread including right here in hillsborough county. there are now two cases in the tampa bay area and nine throughout the state. >> yeah. and in pregnant women, the virus causes birth defects and now we are learning it's not just mosquitoes that can spread the disease. lindsey mastis is following this story. do we know if any of the cases in the area involve pregnant women? >> reporter: none of the cases in florida involve pregnant women but we have two cases here in hillsborough county. and the others are in miami- dade, lee and santa rosa county, nine cases altogether. and now the american red cross wants people that travel to

refrain from giving blood for at least 28 days. outbreak areas include the caribbean, mexico and some parts of south america. it leads to babies being born with small heads because their brains won't develop fully. and according to the centers for disease control common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes and it could take a week for symptoms to appear. and now in texas, something new, the first confirmed case of zika spread through sexual transmission. >> with zika, we don't know exactly how long someone can remain infectious but in this case as we understand it, someone had just gotten sick with zika and that individual's sexual partner developed zika without a travel history. >> reporter: according to the cdc, the virus can be found in blood. right now there, are no vaccines or medications to prevent or treat zika. those with zika are urged to rest and take fluids.

cases here in florida were contracted outside of the state. the world health organization expects at least 3 million infections over the next year. and this is one of our top stories on wfla.com right now. and we will stay on top of the story and let you know about any new cases. gene -- >> it's alarming. thank you. and we will stay on top of it. you can follow the morning alerts each day on facebook and twitter. just search the #8alert. in your vote this morning, presidential candidates are making a full court press in new hampshire for next week's primary in that state. and our senator marco rubio is hoping for another big win there. senator rubio is starting strong after a third place in iowa. he is emerging as the first alternative to cruz and trump. and he scored a key endorsement from south carolina senator tim scott. democratic candidates hillary rodham clinton and bernie sanders are also

former president bill clinton is expected to campaign heavily for his wife during the next few days of. we will have much more on the new hampshire primaries later in the "today" show including a live interview with senator sanders. hillary rodham clinton will be getting some support from tampa mayor bob buckhorn. he will travel to new hampshire this morning. the mayor tells news channel 8 he didn't think the iowa caucus could be so close. he hopes to help get voters to the polls in new hampshire. >> i'm just going to go knock on doors and make phone calls and do whatever they need me to do. i had to go online and buy winter boots and a few other things because i don't have them. >> sounds like he is getting ready. mayor buckhorn, he is footing his own bill for the trip. 8 is on your side for all of the developments for the new hampshire primaries. our own candace mccowan will travel to new hampshire this week. look for the updates starting thursday right here on news channel 8. we have an important 8 on

it is tax season and unfortunately, it's also the time in which crooks try to rob you out of your refund. this morning irs has a warn, con artists are posing aas the irs and trying to get their hands on your money. they can do their dirty work just about anywhere with a phone. listen to a phone call a bay area woman. >> hello, this call is an official final notice from the irs. the irs is filing a lawsuit against you. >> fake irs calls like this one are surging across the county and the country. since october 2013, the agent launched almost 5 million contacts from the scammers. remember the irs will never demand payment on the phone. let's turn things over to leigh spann for weather and traffic on the 8s. >> when you step outside this morning, it feels spring-like. remember, we might have an early spring but the warm

long so don't listen to punxsutawney phil too much. temperatures this morning are in the 70s by 95 k. 80 at 3:00 p.m., that's well above average. and in the mid-70s with only a 10% rain chance today. a 70% chance thursday. it's clear for friday but not for long. saturday starts out dry before another system brings a 40% rain chance saturday night into sunday. and that's the one that's going to keep us cool next week. and let's check on weather and traffic on the 8s. how are things -- check on traffic on the 8ss now. we have nebraska avenue blocked at fowler due to construction. and two fatals in bradenton. let's take a look at this, folks. at first, we were told just one person was deceased and now two people have died due to this crash. so very sad news to kick-off the morning. 301 at 63rd avenue east, that's where it's located. and now there's an investigation going on. and that's typical when there's a fatal crash.

house early because travel is so light. but 15th street is an excellent alternate to 301 and it looks great. and let's take a look at overnight construction at university. both sections are blocked due to the diverging diamond intersection being built on the at this point. and you have two left lanes blocked here. you can get by 75, just a lot of construction to go through. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. forget rum and cigars, the new business looking to put roots in cuba. that's coming up. and the pesky bed bugs are getting more stubborn. the reason you may want to rethink which products to use when trying to get rid of them. and what's that? the milestone this not so popular app is celebrating this morning.

bellicose by expected back in a pennsylvania court today and the judge could rule on -- bill cosby is expected back in a pennsylvania court today and

to dismiss the case against him. the former district attorney who declined to bring sex crime charges against bill cosby a decade ago testified tuesday that the decision was intended to forever close the door on prosecuting the comedian. is there a palette for wine in cuba? many winemakers aing the island nation as the next place to set up shop. nap pa -- many winemakers are eyeing the island as the next place to set up shop. and take a look at the inside of yet another tunnel discovered by mexican authorities. this one built inside a home. the tunnel was 32 feet deep and 32 feet long. three packages of crystal meth and one package of marijuana wrapped in plastic and duct tape were found in the building. no arrests have been made at this time. today in florida, a convicted cop killer will get

state supreme court. right now, he is facing the death penalty. he is on death row for three of convicted of committing. he was found guilty of shooting officers. during a traffic stop in 2010. his attorney will try to save his life by bringing up a recent case that found the florida death penalty statute unconstitutional. the search continues for the man caught on camera trying to rob a military vet. this happened in brevard county. when the man walked in with the gun in his hand demanding money, the worker jumped into action. the gunman got away. >> wow. good on him. the next story might make you jump out of bed this morning, bed bugs. the new study suggests the nasty critters are getting harder and harder to get rid of.

resistance to the insecond sides that are -- insecticides that are used to get rid of them. advances in technology are making communication easier. voice recognition apps and captioning services are providing eased assessability to deaf students. the captioning service can interpret entire lectures and scroll before the eyes of students in real time. >> it makes access easier to come by. in the olden day, you had to get an interpreter and bring the interpreter. and now you can do things as you see it. >> this is incredible. they have 130 interpreters on staff and more than 4,000 logged hours of interpreting per week. university leaders strongly support and encourage the ever- changing technology advances and growth toward assessability. after those massive winter

predict drops in auto sales in january. but we know overall sales numbers. suvs were leading industry purchases. fiat and chrysler and general motiers saw increased sales but not all stood strong. ford saw a drop in sales and so did volkswagon with a tail spin drop of 14% following the big emissions scandal. the what's app messaging app reached a huge milestone. they reached 1 billion active users. that's one in seven people in the world. the majority are outside the u.s. it can make phone call, texts, location shares and much more. facebook purchased the app back in 2014 and it's sending and receiving a mind blowing 42 billion messages a day. i've used it to talk to people abroad and works quite nicely. >> very interesting. i will have to check that out for sure. the forecast, low clouds, mild and muggy at 8:00 this

obviously very warm just at lunchtime hitting 76. 80 by 3:00 p.m. and alling for a 10% chance of a stray shower. the temperatures outside right now are our typical high temperatures. and of course we still have hours before the sun comes up. 70 in auburndale. 72 in arcadeia. rich in oldsmar says 67 degrees. and our big story will continue to be alabama. they are under the threat for tornadoes after seeing monster tornadoes yesterday. for us, just extra clouds around. what will happen through the day, not as foggy, still warm. in the warm pull ahead of the storm system. and back near 80 degrees today and that slim rain chance. and tomorrow, rain ahead of the front off and on all day starting from north to south. there's a 70% chance. and then it's cooler and drier friday before the next system saturday night. leslee, how about traffic on the 8s? well, we're still looking at the big problem in the sun coast area, folks. double fatal accident here in

so if you travel on u.s. 301, it's going to be tough right now because both directions are blocked at 63rd avenue east due to the crash. and we actually have meliek on the street. and get a live look at what is going on out here. and you can see a lot of activity out here, fire truck, police vehicle, this is a double fatal crash in bradenton. and zooming in here, you can see debris on the roadway and crunched up vehicles. again, this is 301 blocked both directions at 63rd avenue east. let's go back to the maps. here's how you get around it, instead of taking 301, take 15th street instead. that's an excellent alternate for you. and other issues going on, one in sarasota and one in tampa. more in the next report. now back to gene and gayle. >> all right. thanks. you're awe moments coming the newest member of the step. we have the heart warming video coming up. plus, you've heard the

what if that was true on your next flight? how one woman was able to get a pig on a plane.

this morning, a baby so cute. take a look at the cute

it's hard to get those long legs up and going. she gave birth tuesday morning in south carolina without complications. the new baby will have an exam to determine the sex, height and weight. and you can be an important part of her life. you can suggest a name for the new baby with a donation. the name will be chosen later this week. >> and the long neck has to keep them off balance. any name suggestions? >> well, i have to figure out if it's a boy or a girl. >> long neck, like a beer. abusing the system or a needed program? >> coming up on the "today" show, jeff ross investigates the system being used to bring emotional support animals onboard planes. so how did he do it? in true jeff style, he had a producer register a pig and it worked. [ oinking ] >> yeah, imagine sitting next to that. that was cute.

so be sure to keep it here on news channel 8 after the newscast so you can see the full report on the "today" show. >> i need mine for emotional support. >> he is okay. she's not a pig. >> no. >> squealing when you're trying to fly. >> it looked like it was fine to me. weather and traffic on the 8s is three minutes away. plus in the next half hour, today the national signing day. a look at some of the bay area students making big future decisions this morning. and also a tornado outbreak. ahead, a look at the destruction the twister caused and how the same storm system could impact us.

time for weather and traffic on the 8s. and it is warm outside. checking in at lakeland eight

we will make it up to 80 today with higher humidity, mostly dry before a cold front comes closer to us tonight. i'll tell you what it does to the forecast. and leslee has traffic on the 8s. that's right. we have an issue in tampa. overnight construction tying up lanes here, nebraska avenue at fowler. go ahead and take central because we've got a back-up. not cleared until 6:00. i just downloaded 600 photos in 60 seconds. that's seriously better. (husband) we're out of 2%! i wonder what else could be better around here. (husband) i heard that. switching to better internet is now easier than ever. only fios has the fastest internet available, with uploads up to 5x faster than cable. get 100 meg upload and download speeds, plus tv and phone for just $69.99 a month online with no annual contract. switch to better.